THICK NECK (GOITRE),
Nervous Debility and Weakness Cured.
Miss ELLA A. HOUGHTON, of Theresa, Jefferson Co., N.Y., was cured of Thick Neck, Nervous Prostration, Weakness and a complication of ailments by Dr. Pierce's "Discovery" and "Favorite Prescription." She says: "My health is now as good as it was before I was sick. The swelling (goitre) has all gone from my neck. I don't have any bad feelings. My gratitude for the benefit I have received from your treatment has induced me to recommend you to all whom I know to be sick." "I have known of two or three middle aged ladies residing near here, who have been cured by your 'Favorite Prescription.'"
GOITRE CURED.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Dear Sirs—I can say that your medicine has done its work well in the case of my sister, Miss Rachel Mann. She is entirely well of Goitre and throat trouble. I am glad to say that we can recommend your medicines very highly.
Very truly yours,
MARY J. MANN,
for sister Rachel Mann,
Romola, Center Co., Pa.
CARBUNCLES LARGE AS HEN'S EGGS!
Eight or Ten Years Afflicted. Two Bottles only, Cure.
WORLD'S DISPENSARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Buffalo, N.Y.:
Gentlemen—For about eight or ten years my father was laid up with carbuncles, the worst that I ever saw. He tried everything he heard of, and his doctor did everything he could for him, but nothing did him any good. Had six or seven carbuncles at a time, as large as a hen's egg; he got so weak and suffered so much he could not walk a step. It was in the summer of '72 or '73 that he had his bed put in the middle of his chamber and got on it to die. No one expected him to get well. Looking over the newspapers, he saw your "Golden Medical Discovery" advertised, and the good it had done. There was not any sold then in the country, so he sent to Richmond—forty-five miles—and got a bottle. When he began to take it he was nearly covered with carbuncles—little and big together. Before he had taken half-a-bottle they began to go away. Before he had taken two bottles he was entirely cured, and he has never been bothered with them since. Every time he sees any sign of them, he gets a bottle of "Golden Medical Discovery" and it cures them. My father, Col. T.U. Fogg, lives in West Point, King William Co., Va. He is now seventy-eight years old, and enjoys good health.
Yours truly,
Mrs. NANNIE GOULDMAN,
Beulahville, King William Co., Va.
THICK NECK. (GOITRE.)
Thick neck, or goitre, also sometimes called bronchocele, consists of an enlargement of the thyroid gland, which lies over and on each side of the trachea, or windpipe, between the prominence known as "Adam's apple" and the breast bone. The tumor gradually increases in front and laterally, until it produces great deformity, and often interferes with respiration and the act of swallowing. From its pressure on the great blood-vessels running to and from the head, there is a constant liability to engorgement of blood in the brain, and to apoplexy, epilepsy, etc. When the enlargement once makes its appearance, it continues to increase in size as long as the person lives, unless appropriate treatment be resorted to. It never disappears spontaneously. These tumors are much larger than those not familiar with them would suppose from their outward appearance, as they extend under and are bound down by the muscles on each side of the neck, so that they become embedded in the cellular tissues underneath, while the sides of the neck retain, to a considerable extent, their round and even appearance, whereby the real magnitude of the tumor is not apparent. Figure 7 represents the appearance of the neck of a person afflicted with this disease. The form of protuberance varies materially with different persons, that shown in the engraving being the shape which it ordinarily assumes.
The causes of the affection are not well understood. The use of snow-water, or water impregnated with some particular saline or calcareous matter, has been assigned as a cause. It has also been attributed to the use of water in which there is not a trace of iron, iodine, or bromine. A writer in a Swiss journal, Feuilles d' Hygiene, states that the disease is often due to an impeded circulation in the large veins of the neck, from pressure of the clothing, or from the head being bent forward, a position which is often seen in school children, when the muscles of the back of the neck have become fatigued.
Treatment. We have obtained wonderful results by a new method of treatment, which consists in the employment of electrolysis in conjunction with other therapeutic means. There is scarcely a case in which this treatment, properly carried out, will not effect a radical cure. It is attended with no danger whatever.
Those who are afflicted with this disease and unable to avail themselves of special treatment, cannot do better than to take Dr. Pierce's Alterative Extract, or Golden Medical Discovery, and apply to the skin over and around the tumor, night and morning the following solution which may be prepared at any drug store: iodine, one drachm; iodide of potassium, four drachms; dissolve in three ounces of soft water. Apply to the tumor twice a day, with a feather or hair pencil.
MUMPS. (PAROTITIS.)
This is an inflammation of the parotid glands and generally occurs in childhood. It is often epidemic, and is manifestly contagious. It usually, though not always, appears on both sides of the neck at the same time.
Symptoms. An external, movable swelling, just below and in front of the ear, near the angle of the jaw, is the prominent symptom. The enlargement is not circumscribed, but hard and painful, and attended with more or less fever, derangement of the secretions, and difficulty in swallowing. The swelling increases until the fourth and fifth day, when it gradually diminishes, and by the eighth or tenth is entirely gone. Sometimes the disease is accompanied by swelling of the breasts in the female, or the testicles in the male.
Treatment. Usually but little treatment is necessary. Exposure to cold should be avoided. If severe or painful, with febrile symptoms, a hot foot-bath and small doses of the "Compound Extract of Smart-Weed," in some diaphoretic infusion, to induce sweating, together with small doses of aconite, will produce good results. If swelling of the testicles threatens (which seldom happens except on taking cold), resort should be had to mild cathartics, the spirit vapor-bath, stimulating liniments to the neck, and warm fomentations to the part attacked If delirium occurs, a physician should be summoned.
INFLUENZA, OR LA GRIPPE.
This is an infectious disease, characterized by depression, and usually associated with a catarrhal condition of the mucous membrane. It may affect the respiratory organs or the intestinal canal. There is a marked liability to serious complications, of which pneumonia is the most dangerous. The disease is evidently due to a specific virus of great infectiveness, and is more active and contagious at certain seasons and under certain conditions of the atmosphere. By some it has been supposed that it is due to a miasma in the air, but the character of its infection indicates that the true virus is of a germinal nature.
Uncomplicated cases recover, but in the aged and in the delicate we may see fatal results, due usually to the profound depression or the high temperature to which the individual is subjected. There is much redness and swelling of the mucous membranes of the nose and throat—a bronchitis—and a catarrhal state of the stomach and intestines. These may all be present, or the disease may center upon one particular portion of the animal economy, and manifest its ravages there alone.
Symptoms. The attack usually resembles an ordinary catarrh of cold. In some cases the nasal catarrh is absent, or very mild, and the infection invades the general system, with much fever. A very striking manifestation of the disease is the severe nervous troubles which are present at the outset, consisting of headache, pain in the back and legs, and a general soreness of the muscles and bones as if bruised or beaten. The pulse is usually feeble and small—intermittent. The disease may center in the brain, producing delirium. Mental disorders are not uncommon, and there is usually following the disease more or less inaptitude for mental work and a tendency to depression of spirits. In many cases there is a severe diarrhea, and the individual suffers much from pain and discomfort in the abdomen. This is a gastro-intestinal irritation, and apparently favors an early recovery, and usually there are less severe sequels in such cases.
The most dangerous complication is pneumonia. These cases may follow bronchitis, or the grip may begin with well-characterized symptoms of this disease, for which see the chapters upon this trouble. The sputa may not be rusty until after several days. The crisis is usually slow, and a considerable proportion recover, the disease frequently showing a sudden change for the better, and the patient being up and around in a few days. Cases complicated with pneumonia are the most indefinite in their symptoms, and require the closest attention.
Treatment. In every case the disease must be regarded as a dangerous one, and the patient be confined to bed and indoors until all fever has disappeared, otherwise sudden and serious manifestations are liable to appear at any time. The patient must be well fed and nourished from the outset. The bowels should be acted upon by mild laxatives, such as castor oil or Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets, using from one to three. It is also of advantage afterward to move them twice each day, by the injection of warm water, to which has been added a teaspoonful of table salt to each pint. This injected into the rectum, using the water slightly tepid, or cool if the patient is feverish, will tend to soften the actions from the bowels and favor the escape of poisonous matter. The cool water has also a soothing effect upon the fever and nervous system. If the fever is high, and there is delirium, small doses of aconite, with water, should be used every half hour or hour, but all depressing agents of this kind must be used with caution, as profound prostration sometimes develops. Warm baths, repeated frequently, and followed by hot lemonade, are of the greatest benefit in reducing the feverish condition and quieting the patient. The bed should be warmed after these are administered and the patient given hot lemonade to bring on free action of the skin, kidneys, and bowels. Where the pulse is weak, the free use of stimulants, as wine, coffee, tea, and brandy or whiskey, are required, as the great danger of the disease is a depression of the heart. In severe bronchitis, pneumonia, and other complications, appropriate treatment should be applied.